


Where The Love Goes

by aurawinterrain



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Medical, Angst, Brain Surgery, Brain Tumors, Fluff, HQ Rarepair Bang 2020, M/M, Medical Procedures, Mentions of Death, Surgery, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Tsukishima Kei is Bad at Feelings, kageyama loves flowers, no one dies, tsukishima loves kageyama
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23575168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurawinterrain/pseuds/aurawinterrain
Summary: Tsukishima met Kageyama during his second year in medical school. The florist had opened up a small store right outside the building, and he was instantly drawn to the beautifully displayed bouquets that were displayed outside the shop. Fast forward a few years, Tsukishima was now a third-year resident at a nearby hospital and the both of them had moved in together. Live seemed to be perfect - until it wasn't. Kageyama started to suffer from frequent headaches, and when a particularly bad spell sent Kageyama to the hospital, that was when they realised that their perfect life may not be as smooth sailing as they thought it would be.How would they deal with the news that was dropped on them like a bomb?
Relationships: Kageyama Tobio/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 4
Kudos: 100
Collections: HQ Rarepair Bang 2020





	Where The Love Goes

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second fic for this couple and I really love their dynamics :'> I am also very honoured to be partnered with the lovely artist that drew this beautiful artwork - my fic doesn't do this justice T^T You can check them out here! [Erel](https://www.instagram.com/__erel/)   
> Besides that, enjoy the fic ~

Kageyama had just finished setting up his store - it was a small place right outside their local medical school. Rent there wasn’t cheap, but it wasn’t the most expensive one he had seen on the market, so he snatched it up. He was just about to leave the rest of the unpacking for tomorrow when he spotted a tuff of blonde hair hovering near the entrance of his shop. Curious, he pushed the door open. “Hi, can I help you?” He smoothed the wrinkles on his shirt, trying to appear a little more tidy and organised than he felt. 

“Oh!... I was just looking at these arrangements, did you do them?” The blonde pointed to the arrangements at the entrance of the shop. “Yeah, actually. I took two whole days to decide which ones were the prettiest.” Kageyama admitted. “I think they look great. Anyway, good luck, many people frequent this street so I reckon you’ll become famous in no time.” Not even pausing to introduce himself, the stranger gave him a small bow before starting towards the building, supposedly a student at the medical school. 

“Hey wait! What’s your name?” Kageyama yelled after him, desperate to know that, at least. “It’s Tsukishima. Tsukishima Kei. But I don’t think you’ll see me around often, I’m not into flowers.” 

The student had stopped in his tracks, and offered a small smile to the florist. “Well maybe I can change your mind,” Kageyama suggested, returning the smile, though it looked more like an evil smirk. 

“We’ll see.” 

The next day, Kageyama finally finished setting up his entire shop, now all that was left was to officially open it. Heaving a sigh of relief, he was about to leave when he caught sight of the tall buildings looming over the whole street. Remembering his exchange with Tsukishima, he stared at the leftover flowers and sat back down, gathering the flowers and arranging the prettiest bouquet he ever did. At first, he planned on leaving it anonymous, but decided against it and added a small tag at the side. After he was done, he set it down right outside the shop, then made his way back home. For some stupid reason, he felt lighter than he ever had since he decided to leave his house and set off on this journey himself. 

-

“For me? You must be mistaken-” Tsukishima tried to deny the fact that there was a whole ass bouquet waiting for him when he stepped into school, but there it was, on his desk. One look at it and he already knew who was behind this, no one else could make simple lilies and tulips look so beautiful. He sighed, having half a mind to just throw it away and forget the entire incident happened, but something about the “For you :)” That was scribbled messily at the side made him keep it. 

When he was heading back home, he passed by the flower shop and peered inside, a little surprised to see that there were already loads of customers flocking in and out of the small store. He peeked inside, holding the bouquet in one hand. Kageyama was busy at the counter, a small scowl on his face as he concentrated on dealing with so many customers at once. Not even realising what he was doing, Tsukishima ended up waiting by the side until the stream of customers slowed down to a trickle and Kageyama could finally have some time to breathe. 

“Oh! It’s you…” Kageyama’s eyes brightened up when he noticed the student leaning against one of his display tables. His gaze flickered down to the bouquet and he tilted his head towards it. “Do you like it?” Tsukishima shrugged, glancing around the shop. “I don’t know, one isn’t really enough, maybe if you made me one more I can make up my mind.” And he swore, he never saw anyone else’s face look so ecstatic at the thought of being handed more work, but Kageyama merely promised that he would make him so many bouquets Tsukishima would have no choice but to say yes. 

And so that was how it all started - a simple conversation right outside his store. Bouquets of flowers quickly turned into afternoon dates, and they eventually started going out. Tsukishima started his residency at a nearby hospital, and Kageyama followed, renting a larger shop nearer to the hospital to conveniently surprise Tsukishima every time he had to scrub in for surgery. The two of them also moved in together - which was a huge relief for both of them. Tsukishima no longer had to stand noisy roommates in his dorm, while Kageyama could finally afford a larger room now that they were splitting the rent. 

His business had also flourished over the years, garnering a lot of support even though he had switched locations. Now that he was a little more financially stable than when he first started, Kageyama decided to hire a few assistants to help him on days when he got especially busy, helping him shoulder the burden. Life seemed perfect for both of them - until it wasn’t. 

Perhaps what made it so scary was how slowly it crept up onto them.

The headaches were the first symptoms to pop up. Kageyama brushed it aside, pushing it all to stress and, though he would never admit it outright, worry for Tsukishima. The blonde was in his third year of residency, and it was tough. More often than not, the florist would wake up to an empty bed, despite the fact that he went to bed alone the night before. The hospital became more of a home for Tsukishima, with the amount of work he had to catch up on and the surgeries that he had to scrub in for.

“Do you even have time to eat?” Kageyama had asked when he visited Tsukishima at the hospital - it was his first time seeing the latter’s face in 3 days. “I eat whenever I can, you don’t have to worry. What brings you here, anyway?” Kageyama huffed and thrusted the bag he was holding in his hands into Tsukishima’s chest. “I made something, so eat it ‘whenever you can’,” He turned on his heels, ready to make his way back to his shop. “... and I miss you too, dumbass. You have a home to return to, you know?” With that, Kageyama left, both of them blushing like idiots. 

That night, the florist was ready for a good night’s rest, since Tsukishima had oh so kindly granted his wish and made his way home for dinner. Usually, he had no trouble falling asleep, so the both of them were out cold in seconds, but someone out there must truly hate him, because he was jerked out of his sleep with a pounding headache. Kageyama groaned, wondering if he ever had headaches this bad before. Sure, they had become more common these few weeks, but it never got this bad, did it?  _ Were headaches supposed to hurt this much _ ? 

Unable to stand it, he woke Tsukishima up. It was the first time kageyama saw tsukishima so panicked in his entire life, and if it was any other day, he would have doubled over in laughter at his partner’s expression when he told him, quietly, about how bad he felt. “How long has it been going on for?” Tsukishima asked softly, currently holding Kageyama against his chest and rubbing his back gently to distract him. 

“Mm... A few weeks? I wasn’t keeping track, they just … popped out from time to time.” He mumbled, closing his eyes and trying to relax despite the constant pulsing in his head. “Take some time off work tomorrow, even if you’re feeling better. I’ll go with you for a checkup at the hospital.” 

There was silence, and Tsukishima almost thought Kageyama had fallen asleep, until he felt the shorter male shake his head slightly, then groan. 

“I can’t, Akaashi-san has a … date tomorrow. Kenma won’t be able to handle everything by himself.” Kageyama replied, sighing softly. “I’m sure it’s fine… I’ll let you know if other symptoms show up.” Tsukishima opened his mouth, ready to argue his way through, but he looked down and saw how tired Kageyama was and immediately shut it. Putting a stop to their conversation, Tsukishima continued his tiny ministrations as they both drifted off to sleep. 

Kageyama would be lying if he said that the headaches eased, but when he saw how tired out his boyfriend was from residency, a part of him told him to just stay quiet about his condition. It was just headaches, right? What could possibly go wrong? 

-

By the time the next set of symptoms rolled around, Kageyama could no longer deny how lousy he had been feeling the past few months. The headaches were fine, they disrupted his sleep and his daily activities from time to time, but after some good rest he was usually back to normal. What really disturbed him was the sudden ringing in his ears that left him disoriented and dizzy. 

The very first time it happened, he was in the midst of preparing a huge boutique for a wedding, while Akaashi and Kenma were outside tending to the rest of the customers. He was holding a ribbon in one hand, about to tie it around the beautiful roses when everything went silent, and all he could hear was this awful ringing that pierced through his head. He dropped everything in his hands, stumbling back and toppling his chair over - which must have been why Akaashi had rushed in. 

“...yama-san? Are… okay?” Kageyama blinked lazily, feeling his knees give out under his knees as he fell ungracefully onto the marbled floor. “Shit!” Akaashi moved quickly, clearing the mess that Kageyama had made. The florist had his head in his hands, his breaths leaving his tall frame in short, frantic bursts. The world was still spinning, and all he could hear was the goddamn ringing, which was starting to give him a headache. 

_ I want it all to stop _ . He squeezed his eyes shut, a soft whimper escaping his lips.  _ Someone, please…  _ Warm hands enveloped his own, and with much difficulty, Kageyama managed to lift his head to meet Akaashi’s worried gaze. The latter was speaking, he could tell that much from how his mouth was moving, but all that got through to him were jumbled up words that didn’t make any sense.  _ Ah, crap… I’m going to…  _ His vision blurred, and the last thing he remembered before darkness enveloped his senses was the faint shouting of Akaashi in the background. 

-

_This place smells nice._ Was the first thing Kageyama noted when he gained consciousness. He forced open his eyes and immediately regretted his decision. The bright fluorescent lights weren’t helping the slight throbbing his head, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. Groaning softly, he garnered the attention of the three beings who were standing anxiously around his bed. “He’s awake.” Kenma noted softly, as Tsukishima immediately went to his side, helping him to sit up carefully before opening his mouth. 

“Tobio, you big idiot, didn’t you tell me that you were going to inform me if anything else shows up? How on earth did you end up in the hospital?!” Kei sounded frantic, and it didn’t fit his usual stoic character that Kageyama managed a small half smile at that reaction. “Well, at least I’m not dead…” he mumbled, more to himself than to anything else in the room. 

“ _ I  _ thought you were dying.” Akaashi replied, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I thought I was going to have a heart attack when you lost consciousness - ask Kenma, he will tell you how much I panicked. I literally thought I watched you just take your last breaths.” At that, Kageyama actually let out a chuckle. “I won’t die that easily, Akaashi-san. Not when I still have a whole shop to tend to. Speaking of which, if the both of you are here, what happened to the shop-”

“Is the shop really the first thing on your mind right now? You’re in a freaking hospital, Tobio. Can you worry about yourself a bit more?” The florist paused, turning to look at his partner carefully for the first time since he opened his eyes. Tsukishima looked, frankly, horrible. There were dark circles under his eyes, and it was obvious he was in a rush to leave wherever he came from, because his coat was worn inside out, and there was a clip in his hair, for some reason. 

“When Akaashi-san called me, I immediately dropped whatever I was going - god, I’m going to get it from the senpai’s later - and ran to the shop. You have no idea how worried I was, do you? The whole time you were getting examined, then waiting for you to wake up, my heart was pounding like crazy, I thought -” 

Kageyama reached over to grab the blonde’s (trembling) hand, squeezing it slightly. It was slightly embarrassing to do this in front of Akaashi and Kenma, but Tsukishima was close to losing it, and he wanted to ground him before he actually did. “It’s alright, kei. I’m alright, okay? I’m alive, aren’t I? Healthy - maybe not, we shall see after the doctor speaks to me - but, still, I’m alive. That’s what’s most important now, right?” tsukishima swallowed the rest of his words, nodding slightly to Kageyama’s question. “You’re right. That was uncalled for, I’m sorry.” 

Kageyama grinned, giving Tsukishima’s hand another squeeze. 

“Well, now I know how much you love me~”

“Oh shut up, I should have just continued with my paperwork instead of rushing over.” 

-

“Kageyama-san, right? Here, have a seat.” 

A few hours after Kageyama was awake, the doctor in charge told the florist that he would have to run a few scans before meeting up with the duo to discuss his condition. Kageyama agreed readily - there was no other way around it. He reluctantly left the store in the hands of Akaashi and Kenma for the time being, and went for all the scans obediently, the MRI scans, the CT scans, and a whole other round of testing which involved equipment even tsukishima didn’t know what they did. 

After rounds of testing and days of lazing about waiting for the results to come out, they were finally seated in front of the doctor, nervously awaiting the results. The older male in front of them cleared his throat, shuffling the documents about as he clicked something so that the images from the scan would show up on the screen. 

Kageyama focused on the images, none of it making any sense to him at all. A quick glance at Tsukishima showed that the doctor - in - training had no idea either, he was specialising in Cardiology after all. “So, as you can see here,” The doctor pointed towards the MRI scan on the right, towards the area near the auditory canal, where a white object seemed to be growing and compressing the area around it. “Based on the MRI scan, there is a tumor growing right here. It is a benign tumor known as Meningioma, and is located at the Cerebellopontine angle. This is one of the most common benign tumors, representing about 20% of the tumors originating from the brain. After this, we will keep you under observation, conducting a few more scans to determine the stage of the tumor and discuss your treatment plan afterwards.” 

Once the blonde heard the word tumor, he froze. The previous fiddling with his fingers due to nerves paused, and he almost forgot how to breath.  _ A tumor?  _ He wrecked his brain trying to remember how many deaths in the hospital were caused by tumors.  _ What did he say again? A benign tumor? But tumors are recurring even after surgical removal, right?  _ Suppressing the millions of questions that were bouncing about his head, he stared at the MRI scan, trying his best to pay attention to the doctor. But all that he could think about when he turned to look at Kageyama, a mixture of fear and false cheeriness reflected in the latter’s eyes, all he could think of was  _ why? Why Tobio? Why  _ **_his_ ** _ Tobio?  _

-

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Kageyama said for the thousandth time that day. A sense of dejavu washed over Tsukishima as he sat down at the exact same spot he was in a few months ago. “What if it’s a malignant meningiomas, that’s is most likely to invade the brain and recur more frequently-”

“If it was that bad, I would think he would have requested to make an appointment ages ago.” Tsukishima knew that whatever Kageyama made sense, but it didn’t help to quell the swelling worry that was growing inside his mind. The screen flashed to life as the doctor finally managed to get it to work. 

Scanning the images, he tried to force himself to relax. Over the course of the few months since the diagnosis was made, Tsukishima had brought it upon himself to research more about tumors, to find out which type were benign, and the risks of them turning malignant. He knew from the figures and the research that had been done, coupled with the symptoms that kageyama was showing, it was unlikely that it was a grade III tumor, but there was still that tiny voice that was at the back of his head, whispering what if,  _ what if - _

“It’s apparent from the scans that we have conducted that it is a grade I meningiomas - the growth of the tumor is slow, as seen from the comparison of the MRI scans that you have done the past few months. Considering the slow growth of the disease and the possible complications secondary to intraoperative insult and damage to your vital anatomical structures, the decision of a complete surgical remains critical. Though it may be challenging to remove meningiomas in the cerebellopontine angle, I would recommend a surgical resection to deal with the disease. However, I would leave the final decision to you and your partner, of course.” 

“Is there no other way to remove the tumor?” 

“I wouldn’t say that surgery is the only way to remove it, it is just the most effective and there is a low chance of the meningioma recurring. The other option is to undergo radiation therapy, which can stop the tumor growth, but typically not recommended as it can make future surgery more difficult and the success is low.” 

“Alright, we will make a decision and get back to you as soon as possible, thank you.” Tsukishima said after a brief moment of silence, grabbing Kageyama’s hand and leading him out of the room. The latter seemed shaken, to say the least. Perhaps it wasn’t common knowledge, but the fact that there was an option for a complete surgical removal immediately calmed his earlier worries - it meant that there was a low chance of recurrence. Complications might arise, like what the doctor had confirmed, but Tsukishima had seen their Neurological department at work, and they were one of the best ones in Japan, with nimble fingers so steady, you would marvel at how they were able to perform the most intricate surgeries without batting an eyelid. 

By the time they were home, seated on their couch, it seemed that the information had finally sunk into Kageyama’s mind. “He said that I would need  _ surgery? _ ”

“Were you expecting something else?” Tsukishima asked, nursing his third cup of coffee for that day. 

“I don’t  _ know, _ maybe I thought that the meginoma -” 

“Meningioma.”

“Yeah that, if it was small enough and not growing too close to any of my critical nerves, watchful waiting or observation would be sufficient.” 

Tsukishima placed his cup down, turning to face Kageyama fully. 

“I know that the thought of surgery is scary, but I’ve heard enough about our Neurology department, and have seen them in action once. They are skilled enough to perform it, and you’ll be back on your feet in no time, trust me.” 

Kageyama avoided all eye contact with Tsukishima, knowing full well what the blonde’s response to his worry would be. 

“I know, but the shop-”

“Which one is of more value to you, your life or your goddamn shop?” Tsukishima growled, jumping off the couch and glaring down at the male.    
“You can’t just say that, the shop is basically my life, Kei, and you know that.” Kageyama looked tired, as he sunk into the couch even more. 

“Then which do you love more, me or the fucking flowers?” He had tears in his eyes now, fuck, he wasn’t usually so emotional. 

“You know I would die for you, Kei-”

“DON’T SAY THAT. DON’T YOU FUCKING SAY THAT-” The blonde raised his voice -something he has never done since high school, back when he was a hormonal teenager. His lanky figure crumpled to the ground. 

Tsukishima was exhausted, the entire day had been emotionally draining for the blonde. From worry clouding his mind in the morning, which quickly turned into relief from the (somewhat) good news at the doctors, and now he wasn’t so sure what he was feeling anymore. All he knew was that he didn’t want to lose Kageyama. 

“If you don’t get the surgery, Tobio, you heard him. The tumor may be slow in growth but it is big, it will eventually affect your vitals - in this case your hearing, which was why you experienced ringing in your ears the last time you were admitted into the hospital. I’m just worried, I don’t… No, I  _ can’t  _ lose you, can’t you see that?” 

Kageyama lowered himself until he was right next to Tsukishima, cupping the other’s cheek gently as he brushed away a stray tear with his thumb. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that I wouldn’t get the surgery, ever. But I’m just a normal human being, all my life I’ve been staring at plants and flowers, so the thought of being rolled into a surgery room, with someone literally cutting open my head,” he shuddered at the thought. “It’s terrifying. I know that you’ve had your own fair share of surgeries, so it’s nothing new but… I’m scared. I’m  _ terrified _ . Of what’s going to happen next, of what it’s going to mean for my future. I didn’t mean that the shop was more important than getting the surgery, but you’re still in residency - yes, your last year, but you still have 3 or 4 more years in fellowship. If I’m not around to bring in income, what would happen?” 

Tsukishima remained silent - Kageyama’s worries were valid, after all. Seeing the mental gears turning in Tsukishima’s head, he released the med student’s cheek and spread his arms wide, an invitation for a hug. Letting out a small sigh, he slumped into the florist’s open arms. “I don’t know what would happen,” He whispered, inhaling the sweet smell of flowers and feeling himself relax slightly. “But all I know is that I don’t want to lose you, and that no matter what happens, I want to face it with you. Together.” 

Kageyama tightened his arms around Tsukishima’s thin frame, resting his head on the other’s. “I know - and we will. We will work things out from here - step by step.” 

-

  
  


Surprisingly, despite the heavy news that was dropped on the couple, their lives continued on normally, almost as though nothing happened. The only difference was the regular hospital visits for monitoring of the growing tumor, and the ongoing discussion about the surgery. With some help from Akaashi and Kenma, they managed to work out a schedule that would allow Kageyama to take some time off to get the surgery, as well as rest and recuperate afterwards. They didn’t mind the unpaid work that they were doing, in fact, they were more than willing to take on the extra hours. 

“We are more than just boss and coworkers, aren’t we?” Kenma said, offering the pair a half smile. 

“Take it as a favour from us, the next time we need to take time off work because of our idiotic boyfriends, you gotta let us go.” Akaashi added, causing the four of them to dissolve into laughter. 

Time flew by, and somehow besides tsukishima’s residency programme, the blonde had somehow managed to snag a job at the cafe that was right opposite Kageyama’s shop. On his off days, Kageyama could see Tsukishima behind the counter, looking like he would rather be anywhere but there, yet diligently working to fulfil the customers - sometimes ridiculous - requests. “I only got the job because Akaashi and Kenma pulled some strings, I’m sure.” Tsukishima muttered that night, pulling Kageyama closer. 

“It’s not as tough as I expected, but they were probably going easy on me because they know that I’m training to be a cardiologist.” He continued, voice growing softer when he realised that Kageyama had fallen asleep. 

“But I’m doing all of this to ensure that you’ll go off to the surgery without worrying too much.” He kissed Kageyama’s exposed forehead, before allowing himself to drift off to dreamland. 

The next time they were in the hospital, it was right before Kageyama’s surgery. Everything was prepped, and before they knew it, Tsukishima was sending his boyfriend off, pausing right outside the door that he had walked through so many times as a resident. Sucking in a deep breath, he backed away from the retreating view of Kageyama, forcing himself to sit down and relax. Akaashi was there with him, and the elder male handed him a cup of coffee. “Kageyama-san said you liked it black?” He nodded, accepting the drink with a soft ‘thanks’. 

“It’ll be alright.” Akaashi reassured him, shooting him a motherly-like smile. 

“It’ll be alright.” Tsukishima repeated, softly. Almost like a plea.  _ A plea to not take my precious Tobio away from me.  _

The 6 hours passed by quicker than he thought it would, and before he knew it, he was sitting in the hospital room, waiting for the effects of the anesthesia to wear off. Akaashi had gone back to the store, but Kenma was there, and somehow having someone else in the room wait with him made him a little less anxious. He knew that the surgery had gone well - in fact it went more smoothly than he expected it to be, so he shouldn’t be worried. Yet, when he glanced down at Kageyama, propped up in a sitting position to prevent swelling in the brain after the surgery, he can’t help but notice how eerily quiet and unmoving he was. It was almost like he was dead. 

Sighing, Tsukishima leant back in the uncomfortable metal chair, closing his eyes. It had been a long day - he had gotten no rest at all the previous night due to a test he was studying for, before he had to rush to send Kageyama off for his surgery. Once he saw the latter disappear behind those doors, he hadn’t been able to relax, and perhaps the effects of that adrenaline was wearing off now, because he felt utterly exhausted and drained. A hand on his shoulder caused him to open an eye, and he found Kenma standing over him. “I can wait for him to wake up, if you want. The couch seems like a more comfortable place to take a nap.” The blonde opened his mouth, ready to reject the offer, Kageyama was  _ his  _ boyfriend, after all. But he was also really tired… 

“... alright, thank you. Once he’s awake, do wake me up too.” Dragging himself over to the small couch at the side of the room, tsukishima closed his eyes and found sleep easily. 

The next time he woke up, it was to the sound of retching. “Ah, Tsukishima-san, you’re awake…” Kenma was trying to do three different things at the same time, and brilliantly failing at all of them. He was trying to rub Kageyama’s back to make him feel better, but also trying to hold his bangs up to avoid them from getting sick on them,  _ and  _ trying to balance the bowl so it wouldn’t splatter all over the hospital sheets. Adjusting his outfit a little, the blonde quickly hurried over to take over the job of comforting Kageyama, who was making soft whining noises. 

“Why does it hurt… so much? I thought the surgery was supposed to make things better, not worse…” he managed out in between heaves. 

“Well, after brain surgery you can feel nauseous and feel even worse than you did before, it’s not an uncommon thing to happen. That’s why they are monitoring you closely now, so that they can prescribe you medications to best deal with your symptoms. Kenma, could you help me call a nurse in? I’ll take over from here.” Tsukishima explained, noting that Kageyama was mainly dry heaving now. 

Moving the bowl to the side table, he helped Kageyama lean back into a more comfortable seating position, pouring a glass of water and helping the latter take a few sips. “I’m sorry you feel so lousy, tobio. But you’ll feel better as time passes.” Kageyama managed a small smile, reaching out to grab onto Tsukishima’s hand. “I just want everything to be over, I want us to go back to our daily lives - so you don’t have to keep working long hours and I can finally help out at the shop.” Tsukishima gave his boyfriend’s hand a small squeeze, returning the smile. “The hardest part is already over, and you’re the strongest person I know, so recovery should be a breeze to you. Things will be back to normal soon. I promise.”

And for once, even though his throat was killing him and he still felt slightly sick, Kageyama felt like everything was finally falling into place. 

-

The journey to recovery wasn’t exactly a ‘breeze’, like Tsukishima predicted. The first few days, Kageyama couldn’t stand up without feeling dizzy, and he was still unable to stomach solids. But after a few meetings with his doctor, the symptoms slowly started to fade, and he generally felt stronger and ready to be discharged. When he was finally allowed to be discharged, he never felt so free in his entire life. Then, came the endless checks and scans that came, so that they could monitor his condition. 

Even though some part of him was always worried that one day he would find himself back in the office, being told that his tumor had recurred, it never happened, and soon it was almost as though the whole ordeal didn’t even happen. There are some days where he would experience a slight weakness in his arm, but besides that, there were no major complications stemming from the surgery that he went through. 

~major timeskip~ 

It has been 3 years since he was wheeled into the surgery room, and everything was better than ever. Tsukishima had successfully scored a fellowship at the same hospital, and was finishing up his cardiology fellowship next year. Kageyama took his time off work recovering from the surgery to design new bouquet ideas, as well as look into the possibility of expanding their (now considered) tiny shop. So when he was finally given the go to return to his daily life, he put his plans into action, and the response was better than he expected it to be. Akaashi and Kenma were working there as full time employees now, and there was a line at the counter more often than not. It was everything the florist had ever wanted in his life. 

“We’ll close up for today, we know how much you’ve been looking forward to your dinner date,” Akaashi nudged kageyama, a smirk on his face. “N-No, I can go after I finish locking up, there’s still people in the shop- '' Before he could continue, Kenma was pushing him out of the store, snagging the key from Kageyama’s back pocket. “We’ll lock up for you, goodbye~” He held the key up and shut the door firmly, gathering the attention of the few customers still in the shop. Giving them their best professional smile, they went back to the tasks that they were working on as Kenma pocketed Kageyama’s key. The florist shook his head in slightly disbelief, as he headed towards the hospital he once called his second home. 

“Oho, who do we have here~?” A tall man emerged from the locker room, a playful smirk on his face. “I’m waiting for Kei, is he finishing up soon?” The male tilted his head to one side, mouthing the word ‘Kei’ to himself, before his eyes lit up with recognition. 

“Ah, you mean Tsukishima-kun? Then you must be the legendary Kageyama Tobio~. You’re much cuter than I expected, how about leaving your grumpy boyfriend and going for me instead? I’m-”

“Kuroo-san, I think I heard Sugawara-senpai call for you.” Tsukishima elbowed Kuroo in the stomach to prevent him from continuing his sentence. Kuroo panicked, giving Kageyama one last sly smile - smirk - before heading back into the room that he came out from. 

The scowl on Tsukishima’s face melted away as he bridged the gap between the two of them in a few strides. “You’re here early,” he noted, brushing Kageyama’s bangs away from his face. Kageyama hummed, leaning into Tsukishima’s touch. “I wanted to see you.” He mumbled softly, still shy in expressing his feelings even after everything they had been through. Tsukishima chuckled, and the both of them headed out of the hospital together. It was silent for a moment, then, as though the question had been weighing on his chest the whole time, Tsuksihima blurted out, “So, what do you think about Kuroo?”    
“The one with the horrible bedhead?”

“Yeah.” Tsukishima almost sounded like he was pouting. 

“Well, I think he  _ is  _ ridiculously good looking…”

“You were checking him out just now, weren’t you!” 

“No! Why would I?” 

“You totally were.” 

“Was not.” 

“You were.”

“I was not!” 

When Kageyama turned to look at his now sulking boyfriend, he couldn’t help but let a small laugh escape his lips.  _ He’s studying to be a cardiologist, but he’s a huge idiot afterall.  _ He squeezed Tsukishima’s hand slightly causing the blonde to look at him. “I love  _ you,  _ Kei, and I don’t think I’m falling out of love any time soon.” He said softly, eyes so wide and sincere that it made Tsukishiima’s heart skip a beat. “Though, Kuroo is  _ really  _ good looking.” He turned away, adopting a mock brooding look. 

“I’m going to  _ kill _ him.” Tsukishima hissed, though Kageyama knew that his boyfriend was just kidding, or at least, he hoped that he was. 

“But, my heart is yours, Mr soon-to-be cardiologist.” Kageyama raised their linked hands so it was resting above his heart, and Tsukishima’s face grew as red as the poppies in his shop. 

“You’re so cheesy, it’s embarrassing.” He choked out, but a satisfied smile had replaced the pout. 

_ Yeah, he’s an idiot all right.  _

_ An idiot I can’t live without.  _


End file.
